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Background: To our knowledge, no studies of the possible association of early life environment with snoring in adulthood have been published. We aimed to investigate whether early life environment is associated with snoring later in life. Methods: A questionnaire including snoring frequency in adulthood and environmental factors in early life was obtained from 16,190 randomly selected men and women, aged 25-54 years, in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Estonia (response rate 74%). Results: A total of 15,556 subjects answered the questions on snoring. Habitual snoring, defined as loud and disturbing snoring at least 3 nights a week, was reported by 18%. Being hospitalized for a respiratory infection before the age of two years (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.59), suffering from recurrent otitis as a child (OR = 1.18; 95%CI 1.05-1.33), growing up in a large family (OR = 1.04; 95%CI 1.002-1.07) and being exposed to a dog at home as a newborn (OR = 1.26; 95%CI 1.12-1.42) were independently related to snoring later in life and independent of a number of possible confounders in adulthood. The same childhood environmental factors except household size were also related with snoring and daytime sleepiness combined. Conclusion: The predisposition for adult snoring may be partly established early in life. Having had severe airway infections or recurrent otitis in childhood, being exposed to a dog as a newborn and growing up in a large family are environmental factors associated with snoring in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and obesity both appear to increase the risk of asthma. A study was undertaken to investigate the association of HRT with asthma and hay fever in a population of perimenopausal women, focusing on a possible interaction with body mass index (BMI). Methods: A postal questionnaire was sent to population based samples in Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden in 1999-2001, and 8588 women aged 25-54 years responded (77%). Pregnant women, women using oral contraceptives, and women <46 years were excluded. Analyses included 2206 women aged 46-54 years of which 884 were menopausal and 540 used HRT. Stratified analyses by BMI in tertiles were performed. Results: HRT was associated with an increased risk for asthma (OR 1.57 (95% Cl 1.07 to 2.30)), wheeze (OR 1.60 (95% Cl 1.22 to 2.10)), and hay fever (OR 1.48 (95% Cl 1.15 to 1.90)). The associations with asthma and wheeze were significantly stronger among women with BMI in the lower tertile (asthma OR 2.41 (95% Cl 1.21 to 4.77); wheeze OR 2.04 (95% Cl 1.23 to 3.36)) than in heavier women (asthma: Pinteraction=0.030 wheeze: Pinteraction=0.042). Increasing BMI was associated with more asthma (OR 1.08 (95% Cl 1.05 to 1.12) per kg/m²). This effect was only found in women not taking HRT (OR 1.10 (95% Cl 1.05 to 1.14) per kg/m²); no such association was detected in HRT users (OR 1.00 (95% Cl 0.92 to 1.08) per kg/m²) (Pinteraction= 0.046). Menopause was not significantly associated with asthma, wheeze, or hay fever. Conclusions: In perimenopausal women there is an interaction between HRT and BMI in the effects on asthma. Lean women who were HRT users had as high a risk for asthma as overweight women not taking HRT. It is suggested that HRT and overweight increase the risk of asthma through partly common pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is evidence that atopic disorders may begin in intra-uterine life; however, studies of birth characteristics and atopy show conflicting results., Methods: We wanted to investigate the association of birth weight and head circumference with serum total or specific IgE, allergic rhinitis or eczema while addressing the influence of demographic and geographical factors. In this historic prospective cohort study, data were collected from birth records for 1683 men and women born in 1947-1973, from six Nordic-Baltic populations participating in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey. Blood tests for the measurement of serum total and specific IgE were available for 1494 subjects. In multiple regression analyses, adjustments were made for birth length, gender, age, study centre, adult body mass index, level of education, parental and adult smoking. RESULTS There was no association of birth weight (n=1230) and head circumference (n=285) with serum total IgE, specific IgE antibodies, allergic rhinitis or eczema. There were neither significant interactions by gender or age, nor heterogeneity between the study centres in the analyses of birth weight and adult atopy., Conclusion: Birth size was not associated with atopy among adults in this large Nordic-Baltic population study.

It is still unclear whether the reported increase in the prevalence of asthma is real or due to changes in diagnostic criteria. The objectives of this study were to compare the prevalence of diagnosed asthma with the prevalence of respiratory symptoms, and to compare the association between asthma and other atopic diseases in 1981 and 1994. The study populations comprised randomly selected school classes in Oslo in 1981 (n=1,772) and 1994 (n=2,577). The main outcomes in these comparable cross-sectional studies of children, 6-16 yrs of age, were parent-reported prevalence of diagnosed asthma, respiratory symptoms, eczema and hay fever. The questionnaire was identical in 1981 and 1994. The response rates were 94% (1,674 out of 1,772) in 1981 and 85% (2,188 out of 2,577) in 1994. The lifetime prevalence of asthma increased from 3.4% in 1981 to 9.3% in 1994; odds ratio (OR) 2.9 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 2.1-4.0) comparing 1994 to 1981. The prevalence of occasional wheezing increased from 9.0 to 10.8%; OR 1.2 (95% CI 1.0-1.5), and attacks of wheezing from 3.7 to 6.8%; OR 1.8 (95% CI 1.3-2.5). Survival analyses for 3 year birth cohorts showed that asthma was more readily diagnosed in the latest birth cohort (1985-1988). The association between asthma and other atopic diseases decreased during the period under study. The increase in diagnosed asthma and respiratory symptoms supports a true increase in asthma. However, the larger increase in diagnosed asthma than wheezing and a reduced association between asthma and other atopic diseases suggest that the increase in asthma may be explained, in part, by changes in diagnostic criteria.